Thomas Gardner (1592-1674)
}} Biography His father may have been a descendant of Owen Tudor whose grand-daughter married a Gardner (ca 1450s, England). His mother was the sister of John White who was instrumental in the Dorchester Company. Thomas was named an Overseer in the 1624 party that left Weymouth on its way to Cape Ann. Summary Thomas was an Overseer of the "old planters" party of the Dorchester Company who landed, in 1624 at Cape Ann, to form a colony at what is now known as Gloucester. Gardner is considered by some as the 1st Governor of Massachusetts, due to his being in authority in the first settlement that became the Massachusetts Bay Colony (which later subsumed the Plymouth). Gardner, Frank A MD 1907 Thomas Gardner Planter and Some of his Descendants Essex Institute, Salem, MA (via Google Books) This area had been visited by the Plymouth group who had obtained a Patent and had fished in the area known as Gloucester. These visitors, from the south, had built structures for salting and temporary housing. The Gardner-led group, who were to settle the area via another Patent, succeeded in maintaining themselves after their landing. However, eventual disagreement between the Plymouth folks and the 'West Country' folks, due to Patent conflicts, came about. Conant, having first been at Plymouth, was instrumental in working out a compromise, part of which was moving the Dorchester group away. As well, the colony that had been planned for Cape Ann was doing well, having brought over adequate provisions and having had the proper skills, yet it was commercially unsuccessful due to rocky, infertile soil and poor fishing. In 1626, the Dorchester Company granted permission for Roger Conant (Salem), who had arrived in 1625 from Plymouth (via Nantasket) to assess the situation and to become the new Overseer, to move the colony. Some of the Old Planters moved with Conant to the mouth of the Naumkeag river while many members opted to return to England or to go south. The new colony at Naumkeag was successful and was named Salem in 1629 and, in Conant's words, laid the "foundation" for the Commonwealth. Those following Gardner and Conant as leader were John Endicott and John Winthrop, respectively, as new planters. Thomas and Roger continued to be considered old planters who seemed to get little in the way of recognition from the religious leaders, such as Francis Higginson. By the time of Winthrop, the influx into the area accelerated resulting in Mass Bay outgrowing, and annexing, Plymouth. Gardner, and his sons, played several roles in the early development work. For instance, they did a lot of the early survey work laying out the area. As well, Thomas served on the court and oversaw highway work. He had two wives, Margaret (c 1589 - 1659) and Demaris Sibley Shattuck (1597- 28 Sep 1674). With Margaret, he had six sons (Thomas, George, John, Samuel, Joseph, and Richard) and three daughters (Sarah, Seeth, and Miriam). In the spring of 1624, Gardner landed at Cape Ann with Margaret and the three sons who had been born in England. A fourth son was born in 1624. Gardner, Frank A MD 1933 Gardner memorial : a biographical and genealogical record of the descendants of Thomas Gardner, planter, Cape Ann, 1624, SalemISBN 0740425900, 9780740425905 Descendants The legacy of Thomas Gardner, from seven children, is wide, and varied, as one would expect for the many generations. Some (small sampling) of Thomas' descendants are as follows, grouped by category and in chronological order by birth. His descendants have supported America in all of its armed conflicts, built America through arts/sciences, and are examples of the brain, and backbone (necessary, despite pretensions otherwise from certain perspectives), of the country. Bowers, Andy. 2004. What's a Boston Brahmin?. (via slate.com) Many of Thomas' descendants, or their husbands, graduated from Harvard including its early Divinity School. In short, the phenomenal breadth of involvement with the arts, sciences, and trades covers the gamut. American Patriots (and Military) :* Joseph Gardner (c 1620s, son) -- Captain, King Philip's War, casualty :* Abigail Gardner (c 1650s, through son, Thomas) -- wife of John Wise (clergyman), early Patriot :* John Gardner (c 1680s, through son, George) -- Captain - Salem Company, French-Indian War :* Jonathan Gardner (c 1720s, through son, Samuel) -- commanded a privateer, French-Indian War, Commander of Minutemen, American Revolution :* Benjamin Balch (c 1730s, through daughter, Sarah) -- first Chaplain, Continental Navy 'Descendants of John Balch'. First Reunion. (via archive.org) - F.A. Gardner in attendance :* Robert Treat Paine (c 1730s, through son, George) -- Signer of Declaration of IndependencePaine, SC (1912) Paine Ancestry via Google Books :* Nathaniel Gorham (c 1730s, through son, Richard) -- Signer of US Constitution Family sites (examples): Worcesters, Owings Stone, Shattuck, October House FarmPersonal memoirs (examples): New England, Winthrop Society, Perley's History, ancestry.com, ... :* Samuel Gardner (c 1730s, through son, George) -- one of the consignees of the tea thrown in Boston Harbor :*Ebenezer Gardner (c 1740s, through son, Thomas) -- American Revolutionary patriot (Col. Benjamin Foster's Regiment), builder of the Gardner House, Machias, Maine Dunn, Anthony T. 'The Gardners of Massachusetts: An American Legacy' (via Micmacfarm.com) :* Joseph Gardner Swift (c 1780s, through son, Richard) -- the first graduate of the United States Military Academy :* Samuel Knapp Gardner (c 1780s, through son, Samuel) -- Mariner, captured in War of 1812, held in Dartmoor (HM Prison) :* Rebecca Gardner (c 1780s, through son, Samuel) -- wife of Captain John Allen who died, in 1814, POW, Dartmoor (HM Prison) :* William J. Worth (c 1790s, through son, Richard) -- Mexican-American War, Fort Worth, Texas :* Emily Lee (c 1800s, through son, Richard) -- wife of U.S. Civil War General Daniel Tyler :* William Crowninshield Endicott (c 1820s, through son, Samuel) -- Secretary of War in the Administration of President Grover Cleveland :* Ebenezer Gardner Goldthwaite (c 1820s, through son, Samuel) -- son of Rebecca Gardner, served Andrew's Sharpshooters, 22nd Regt, Massachusetts Volunteers :* Charles Jackson Paine (ca 1830s, through son, George) -- Union General, Civil War. :* Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr (ca 1840s, through son, George) -- American Jurist (and his father) :* Arent S. Crowninshield (c 1840s, through son, Samuel) -- admiral of the United States Navy, Civil War :* George William Coffin (c 1840s, through son, John) - Commander of 'Alert', Greely Relief Expedition Schley, Winfield S Commander, US Navy 1887 1884 Greely Relief Expedition Washington Printing Office (via American Libraries)'ENGLAND'S PRESENT TO AMERICA.; THE STEAM-SHIP ALERT FOR THE GREELY SEARCH EXPEDITION', 4/23/1884, New York Times.(via NYT Archives) :* Francis Cabot Lowell (judge) (c 1850s, through son, George) -- longtime United States federal judge :* Augustus Peabody Gardner (c 1860s, through son, George) -- Distinguished Service Medal (United States), Spanish American War :* John Henry Balch (c 1890s, through daughter, Sarah) -- United States Navy, World War I, Medal of Honor, Lieutenant, World War II :* John Forbes Kerry (c 1940s, through son, George) -- Vietnam War, United States Senator, United States presidential election, 2004 New England Historical Genealogical Society. 'Bush and Kerry related'. (via notablekin.org :* Others -- Lucretia Coffin Mott (c 1790s), Edith Roosevelt (c 1860s), Samuel James Ervin (c 1890s) Business :* Jonathan Gardner (c 1690s, through son, Samuel) -- his Great Pastures became Salem Woods 'A Short History of Salem Woods'. (via Friends of Salem Woods) :* John Lowell Gardner I (c 1800s, through son, George) -- great-grandson of Col Timothy Pickering, East Indies trader, ship fleet owner (Barque, Brig, Clipper, Steamship) :* Rowland Hussey Macy (c 1820s, through son, Richard) -- founder of Macy's :* James A. Folger (c 1830s, through son, Richard) -- founder of Folger's :* Henry Clay Folger (c 1850s, through son, Richard) -- head of Standard Oil of New York Academic/Science/Arts :* Sarah Gardner (c 1630s, daughter) -- wife of Benjamin Balch (son of John Balch, old planter)) :* Mary Gardner (c 1660s, through son, Richard) -- wife of Jethro Coffin :* Timothy Folger (c 1700s through son, Richard) -- studied the Gulf Stream with his cousin, Benjamin Franklin :* Abel Gardner (c 1700s, through son, Samuel) -- his grandparents (Israel and Elizabeth (Ha(w)thorne) Porter) led the effort to save the life of Rebecca Nurse. Elizabeth's grandfather, Major William Hathorne, had come on the Arbella with John Winthrop. :* Nathaniel Bowditch (c1770s, through son, Thomas) -- autodidactic mathematician Young, A. 1846. Chronicles of the first planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, from 1623-1636. (via Google Books) :* Nathaniel Ha(w)thorne (c 1800s, through sons, Thomas and George) -- American author, descendant of John Hathorne. :* Ezra Cornell (c 1800s, through son, Richard) -- founder of Cornell university :* John Lowell Gardner II (c 1830s, through his son, George) -- John's wife founded Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum George Gardner Family Papers 1659-1900. (The Massachusetts Historical Society)Gardner Family Papers 1772-1915. (The Massachusetts Historical Society) :* Anna Parker Lowell (c 1850s, through son, George) -- wife of Abbott Lawrence Lowell :* Frank A. Gardner MD (c 1880s, through his son, Samuel) -- Physician and Historian. Dr. Gardner was a member of the Essex Institute, Vice-President of the Old Planters Society, and President of the Old Salem Chapter of the S.A.R. He wrote several genealogical books, including that of the Conant family, by request. :* C. W. Grafton (c 1900s, through daughter, Seeth) -- Attorney, Author. :* Others -- Charles Austin Beard (c 1870s), Ezra Pound (c 1880s), Rita Hayworth (c 1910s), Earle Stanley Gardner (c 1880s), George Plimpton (c 1920s), Richard Chamberlain (c 1930s) Degrees of separation Through his second wife, Damaris, Thomas' influence could be expanded through the shrinking world argument. Among his step-children's descendants, one can find Thomas Stearns Eliot, John Marshall Harlan, and Sandra Day O'Connor. References